Bjorkman, Mathieu, Ginepri move on at Queen's Club
Tennis Betting Lines
06/11/2007 -
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Swedish veteran Jonas Bjorkman, 12th-seeded
Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu and 15th-seeded American Robby Ginepri were among
Monday's first-round winners at The Artois Championships, a grass-court
Wimbledon tune-up.
The 11th-seeded Bjorkman, a 2006 Wimbledon semifinalist, held off American
Justin Gimelstob 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, while Mathieu snuck past Spaniard Feliciano
Lopez 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3 and Ginepri handled Brit Richard Bloomfield 6-4, 6-2
at The Queen's Club.
Fourteenth-seeded Frenchman Arnaud Clement also advanced by besting Spaniard
Ivan Navarro Pastor 7-6 (7-2), 6-4.
Mild upsets came when Colombian Alejandro Falla took out 10th-seeded Frenchman
Julien Benneteau 7-5, 6-3, Brit Alex Bogdanovic beat 13th-seeded Korean Hyung-
Taik Lee 6-4, 6-4 and Belarusian Max Mirnyi erased 16th-seeded Spaniard
Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-3.
Argentine Juan Martin del Potro dismissed former Australian Open champion
Thomas Johansson of Sweden 6-2, 6-4, while Czech Radek Stepanek bested Italian
Davide Sanguinetti 6-2, 2-0, retired.
Other first-round winners were France's Michael Llodra and Nicolas Mahut, Thai
Danai Udomchoke, Aussie Chris Guccione and Britain's Jamie Baker.
This week's top seeds are reigning three-time French Open champ Rafael Nadal,
former world No. 1 American Andy Roddick, Aussie Open finalist Fernando
Gonzalez of Chile and Roland Garros semifinalist Novak Djokovic of Serbia.
Roddick was the back-to-back-to-back Queen's Club champion from 2003-05. The
Spanish sensation Nadal will open his stay here against del Potro, while
Roddick will encounter Stepanek.
Sixth-seeded Aussie Lleyton Hewitt is the defending Artois champ. The four-
time titlist defeated American James Blake in last year's finale.
<< McNabb makes first practice appearance
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan
McNabb participated in his first practice with the team on Monday. He had
surgery last November after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his
right knee a
<< Vakulenko, Kirilenko advance in Birmingham
Birmingham, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ninth-seeded Ukrainian Julia Vakulenko
and 16th-seeded Russian Maria Kirilenko posted Day-1 wins at the $200,000 DFS
Classic.
Vakulenko vaulted past Chinese Tiantian Sun 6-2, 6-1, while Kirilenko cut
<< This Week in Golf - June 14th through June 17th
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION -
U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP, Oakmont Country Club, Oakmont, Pennsylvania - The best
in the world head to one of the top courses in the United States this weekend
for the second ma
<< Rags to Riches for Todd Pletcher
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It took 102 years for the third filly to
win the Belmont Stakes. It also took a female to upstage the plight of trainer
Todd Pletcher. Amid countless Eclipse Awards and stakes victories by the
score, the fo
<< Lions' Rogers being investigated for sex crime
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Detroit Lions star defensive tackle Shaun
Rogers is reportedly being investigated for an alleged sex crime.
The Detroit Free Press said that police are investigating the former Texas
star for an incid
Tampa Bay's Seo accepts assignment to Durham >>
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Devil Rays announced on
Monday that pitcher Jae Seo accepted his outright assignment to Triple-A
Durham.
Seo, 30, was designated for assignment on June 2 after posting a 3-4 rec
Montana State tabs Ash to lead football program >>
Bozeman, MT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Montana State has named Rob Ash as its new head
football coach.
Ash spent the past 18 seasons at Drake University and also coached at Division
III Juniata College for nine years. He has an overall coaching
Schiavone, Shaughnessy reach second round in Spain >>
Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone
and sixth-seeded American Meghann Shaughnessy highlighted Monday's first-round
winners at the inaugural $145,000 Barcelona KIA tennis event.
Schiavone was leadin
Austin up to No. 81 in world rankings >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Woody Austin jumped 92 places to No. 81 in
the latest Official World Golf Ranking following his win Sunday at the
Stanford St. Jude Championship.
In Europe, Richard Green's victory at the BA-CA Ope
Legendary Vols coach Ray Mears passes away >>
Knoxville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The winningest coach in University of
Tennessee history, Ray Mears, died Monday at NHC Health Care Center in
Knoxville. He was 80 years old.
The Dover, Ohio native led the Vols to a 278
Big 12 Conference betting odds
Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State
Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.
Work left to do:
Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.
Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.
Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.
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